Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Cuthbert and Alex left first. On the way back, neither of them said much.

It wasn't the same silence as before.

Coming here, Cuthbert had been in a good mood, cracking jokes, saying tonight would finally make Regulus admit they'd improved. Alex hadn't said anything, but he'd been hoping for the same thing.

Both of them had felt it lately.

Magic came easier now. Spells that used to take effort last year came out with a flick. A few even felt automatic. Wand up, intent settled, spell cast. Clean.

They'd taken that as proof they were getting stronger.

Technically, they weren't wrong.

What they hadn't known was that this happened to basically every young witch and wizard as they got older. Unless you were exceptionally hopeless, magic settled with age. Control that once needed real focus became second nature.

Holiday training had very little to do with it. Talent didn't matter as much as people liked to think, either.